


A Small Crime

by Chalith



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Cheating, Established Relationship, M/M, Married Couple
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-13
Updated: 2016-02-13
Packaged: 2018-05-20 06:50:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,094
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5995636
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chalith/pseuds/Chalith
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Clint and Tony, husbands of four years, are going through a rough patch. While Clint is away on a long-term mission Tony's loneliness causes him to make a big mistake... A mistake he'd made once before. One he won't be able to fix again. (Summary taken from Wyatt's "A Small Crime")</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Small Crime

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [A Small Crime](https://archiveofourown.org/works/5158343) by [Wyatt](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wyatt/pseuds/Wyatt). 



> I wrote a longer version of Wyatt's "A Small Crime" drabble. I'm not yet sure if I will have the time to expand on this further. Also it's unbetaed so let me know if there are any glaring mistakes.

One has to try and see this from Tony's perspective. He never knows for how long his husband will be away. Clint could be gone a week or he could be gone for up to three whole months. And as soon as the latter starts outweighing the former it's only natural that one begins to feel neglected and lonely.

“Even the most faithful beings have urges,” she had said when a drunken Tony had voiced his concern. It were the same words he'd later recited to Clint after admitting to having been unfaithful.

_“But they sure as hell don't act on them!” barked Clint, pacing their bedroom in boxer briefs and undershirt. His hair was disheveled and still a bit damp from the shower he had taken before coming to bed._

_Tony sat on the bed, eyes following his husband across the room and back. Seeing the bags under Clint's eyes and the bruises visible on his arms and legs made Tony feel even worse about his betrayal._

_“I'm really sorry,” pleaded Tony, the lump in his throat making it difficult for him to speak._

_Clint stopped pacing and turned around. “Don't!” he warned. His face was scrunched up in anger and his eyes, glistening with unshed tears, told Tony just how much he'd hurt him. “Don't talk to me.”_

_For a moment the room was silent._

_“I'll take the couch,” said Clint eventually. Tony shot up. He wanted to offer the bed to Clint but Clint shut him down with a glare. “I'll take the couch!” he repeated, leaving._

Tony had slept in his workshop that night. As had he every other night that Clint had slept on the couch...

Clint had only been home for two days - two days of silence - when Jarvis informed Tony that Clint was leaving for yet another mission.

_Cursing, Tony dropped what he was doing and made for the stairs in a sprint. Clint was already halfway out the front door as Tony reached the entrance hall._

_"Stop this! You're not leaving before we've talked! I won't let you!"_

_Clint stopped and turned around. "You have a big mouth for someone in your position. I told you, I don't really want to talk to you."_

_"Are you breaking up with me?"_

_"I don't know."_

_"Stay. Please. If you go now, I won't be able to fix this and I need to fix this because I love you."_

_Tony watched as Clint tightened his grip on the bag he was carrying but otherwise remained where he stood. The longer Clint took to think about it the more he was scaring Tony. But just when Tony thought he was seeing their marriage crumble before his eyes Clint made his way past Tony back into the house._

Clint had taken some vacation days - his first ever - and spend them at home with Tony. They hadn't talked much about the matter. Clint hadn't wanted to hear anything about it, whether it be any kind of explanation or clarification. He hadn't wanted to know who it was or where he'd met them. The only thing he'd wanted to know was if they needed to move into a different bedroom.

_"Not in the house," assured Tony him._

_Clint bit back his first words. "A 'no' would have sufficed," he said instead._

It had taken them some time but somehow Clint had been able to forgive him.

That was two months ago.

Since then things had gone back to normal. Clint was back onto his annoyingly tight and super irregular work schedule and Tony was at home doing what he did best: inventing.

Clint had been away on a long-term mission somewhere in the Middle East when Pepper had announced her taking on an assistant and suddenly there were two pretty red-heads around.

Tony hadn't paid her any heed at first, a new idea had had him glued to his workbench for the better half of Clint's first two weeks of absence.

Then some time during the third week, she – Natalie something – had dropped by with some papers for him to sign and a cup of fresh brewed coffee. She'd shown great interest in his work and his robots and that's when the flirting had started.

Tony, who had been feeling the effects of an absent spouse, had been enjoying the attention Natalie had been giving him a bit too much.

_Natalie being down in the workshop and watching him tinker reminded Tony of the days Clint used to do the same. The memory brought a smile to his face, although a sad one._

_“Enough of this.” Suddenly Natalie was pushing the project he was working on aside and out of his reach. Instead it was now she in front of him, draped against his workbench. “Now... any other toys you keep down here?” she asked in a sultry voice._

_Tony, surprised by her forward approach, did not reply but stared at her instead. With a grin she guided his hands to her hips. “Well, we can always make do without.”_

_“Ms. Potts is on her way to the workshop, Sir. She will be arriving in approximately 46 seconds,” cut in the AI._

_“Thanks, Jar,” replied Tony, immediately taking his hands back. Natalie let out a disappointed almost annoyed sigh but moved away from the workbench nevertheless. She picked up the clipboard she'd been carrying earlier and made for the door, greeting Pepper on her way out. “Ms. Potts.”_

_“Rushman.” Pepper nodded her head towards the other woman. Then, with a meaningful glance, she turned to look at Tony. “What was she doing here?”_

_“Nothing.”_

_“Tony, do I need to replace her?” Pepper sounded worried. She didn't have to be. He could handle himself._

_“No, it's all fine.”_

And it had been. ...for a while.

Tony had been feeling spiteful when it happened. His birthday had been coming up and he'd just heard from Clint that he wouldn't be back in time to celebrate with him...

_Still, silent and naked Tony lay on Clint's side of the bed, staring at a spot on the ceiling he had never seen before. The room was cold and the covers did only cover him partly. The pillow his head should have been resting on, lay somewhere on the floor._

_The sheets rustled as the body on the other side of the bed moved but Tony's eyes stayed focused on the ceiling. He didn't want to see her, wished her to be gone. There was no excuse for what he had done. For what he had done again._


End file.
